The Inspired Landscape explores the creative process of outstanding landscape architects through their most celebrated projects. Susan Cohen, the founder and director of the acclaimed Landscape Design Portfolio Series at New York Botanical Garden, illustrates the creative path taken by landscape architects like Mikyoung Kim, whose design for the Crown Sky Garden in Chicago was inspired by the interplay of music and nature. And Cornelia Oberlander, whose vision for the form of a Vancouver green roof was drawn from a Karl Blossfeld photograph of a gently undulating orchid leaf. With original sketches, plans, and photographs, this book is an extraordinary journey through the creative process.

“This book is a wonderful resource for designers, gardeners, and students and for anyone seeking insight into, and inspiration from, today’s landscape design.” —Peter Walker
 
“The Inspired Landscape reveals the sources of design inspiration for landscape architects and provides an essential foundation for understanding and appreciating the dynamic artistry of global practice today.” —Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR, Founder and President of the Cultural Landscape Foundation
 
“Susan Cohen probes diverse kinds of inspiration that inform the designs of talented landscape architects. In this exceptional book she cogently captures how they forge idioms that portray the elusive quality that defines place.” —Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, President of Foundation for Landscape Studies

“What sets the book apart, aside from the promise of a conversation between designers, is that the focus is on the creative process and the pulling together of sometimes conflicting influences into a coherent whole. . . . these insights reveal the varied paths that the translation of ideas into elements may take.” —Landscape Architecture Magazine

“Takes readers on a personal journey through the realm of landscape architecture. . . It is certainly a book worth savouring.” —Hortus

“Filled with detailed design sketches, this book offers a fascinating analysis of how of the world’s most celebrated landscape architects go about the process of ‘finding the muse.’” —The Irish Times

“A valuable and succinct resource on each of the featured projects and provides rare insight into the design process of several practices around the world.” —Spacing Vancouver